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Video: Tornadoes tear through Massachusetts

Closed captioning of: Tornadoes tear through Massachusetts

>>to begin this morning on a very serious note that ripped through parts of
massachusetts
. nbc's
mike taibbi
is in
springfield
with the very latest on that. mike, good morning to you.

>> reporter: good morning. in the most recent briefing he confirmed the four deaths, 40 injuries that were serious enough to require hospital treatment. more than 200 were moved to
homeless shelters
. the numbers could have been much higher. some were in the range of 135 miles. people around here had not seen anything quite like this in almost half a century. this dramatic footage captured as the first tornado touched down in
springfield
, whipping debris a mile into the air.

>>holy [ bleep ].

>> reporter: a driver stopping in disbelief to document the twisted disaster as it clawed everything in its path.

>>this is a 22 storm team weather alert.

>> reporter: it was just after 4:30 in the afternoon when this volatile
weather system
struck the southwest corner of
massachusetts
.

>>at least one tornado has touched down.

>> reporter: in the end, two fully formed tornados had scraped the urban landscape of
springfield
and more than a dozen other nearby towns leaving everyone shaken.

>>all the buildings collapsed. my aunt's house, the whole back of her house is gone.

>>it was like "the
wizard of oz
." i was waiting for the witch to fly buy.

>>i thank god. he protected us.

>> reporter: it went right down
main street
collapsing several buildings and ancient trees were yanked from the ground. roofs badly damaged.
highway signs
down. even a trailer on its side. the destruction and damage so widespread that
massachusetts
's governor called for a massive response.

>>we have an emergency on our hands, and so i have declared a
state of emergency
across the entire commonwealth. we've called up to a thousand
national guard
members to help with the
search and rescue
.

>> reporter: by day's end an army of clean-up crews were responded and
fire and rescue
crews came in from all over. it wreaked havoc and cost lives. a season of pier illess weather that has seemed relentless. one resident told me the sight of it was frightening enough but the sound is what she'll never forget it was like a low-flying jet line. really terrifying. meredith?

>>i can only malk. we're going to get to al's forecast in a moment as well.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — At least two tornadoes left at least four people dead and caused numerous injuries and damage Wednesday in this western Massachusetts city. The twisters scattered debris, toppled trees and frightened workers and residents before racing east.

Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency and the National Guard called up about 1,000 troops, NBC News reported.

Scott MacLeod, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, confirmed the four deaths Wednesday night but said there were no details about the circumstances.

He said two people died in Westfield, one in West Springfield and one in the town of Brimfield.

The first tornado touched down at about 4:30 p.m. local time in Springfield, the third largest city in the state, Chris Vaccaro, a spokesman for the National Weather Service, said.

"There was a tornado on the ground and reports of widespread damage in Hampden, Massachusetts, and also reports of damage in Springfield," Vaccaro said.

Much of the damage was in Springfield's South End neighborhood near Interstate 91 and the Connecticut River. Heavy winds could be seen churning the Connecticut River and hail, heavy rain and thunder hammered the area.

A second tornado hit in north Springfield at about 6:20 p.m. local time, authorities said.

Massachusetts state police said that at least 33 people were injured in Springfield, at least five of them seriously.

MacLeod said authorities had a number of reports of injuries but did not yet have firm numbers.

Several hundred homes were impacted, the Springfield fire department reported. Shelters opened up at schools and other buildings as the scale of the destruction became clear.

Baystate Medical Center spokeswoman Jane Albert said the trauma center in Springfield was treating numerous injured people. She said some had serious force trauma injuries.

The tornado struck as many workers were beginning to leave for their evening commutes.

Video aired by WWLP-TV showed a debris-filled funnel roaring through the downtown Springfield area. It also showed vehicles overturned after the winds passed through and downed trees at Riverfront Park. Damaged buildings were also visible.

Thomas Walsh, aide to Mayor Domenic Sarno, told NBC station WWLP that residents were asked to stay off roads so that emergency workers could do their jobs.

Walsh said he was looking out his City Hall window around 4:30 p.m. when he saw the funnel.

"I could see this massive cloud of debris floating around in a circular, cylindrical fashion," he said.

Some 26,000 customers in the greater Springfield area lost power when the tornado blasted through. It could take days to restore power for all, a spokesman said.